Dual-mode Projectile

ABSTRACT

A projectile for acceleration and delivery to a target having a jacket having rear surface, a cylindrical side surface, and a tapered rupturable front surface with a cavity between the surfaces, a core disposed within the cavity, and a mantel packing the core within the cavity, wherein the core is comprised of a denser material than material comprising the jacket, the front surface ruptures upon impact to a target, and the core is ejected through the ruptured front surface to penetrate the target.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS (CLAIMING BENEFIT UNDER 35 U.S.C. 120)

None.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT STATEMENT

None.

MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not applicable.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

None.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to projectiles for weapon systems designed for multiple target types.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Men have been sending projectiles at each other, at game, at buildings, and at vehicles for centuries. The most fundamental projectile is a naturally-occurring item such as a stone, boulder or log. Early man-modified projectiles include such items as pointed sticks (e.g., spears, javelins, etc.), metallic balls, and burning pots of oil. More recent projectile designs include metallic shells, bullets, flechettes, exploding ordinance, laser-guided ordinance, and satellite-guided ordinance.

Mechanisms and methods of accelerating and aiming such projectiles have varied, including hand throwing (e.g., stones, grenades, spears, etc.), centrifugally acceleration (e.g., sling, bolos, etc.), cocked springs (e.g., bows, cross bows sling shots, etc.), compressed gases (e.g., blow darts, air guns, some spear guns, paint ball guns, etc.), expanding gases from ignition of powdered and/or solid chemicals (e.g., firearms, artillery, mortar, etc.), and even magnetic acceleration (e.g., rail guns).

Projectile designs vary as widely as the mechanism and methods to accelerate and aim the projectiles. Each projectile design is intended from one or more target types, with the design including features to overcome certain challenges presented by the intended target. For example, air-to-air cannon rounds are designed to traverse a predictable arc in thin air at high altitudes. Anti-personnel rounds, however, are designed to be accurate in certain scenarios, such as short range (e.g., close quarters combat, designed terminate movement in the target to minimize the danger of an unintended target being impacted by the round after passing through the actual target) or in long range (e.g., designed for stable flight over hundreds of yards). Anti-equipment rounds may include features to overcome armor protection, such as the use of depleted uranium in anti-tank rounds. Anti-building rounds similarly may include features to destroy certain types of structures, such as “bunker buster” rounds or incendiary rounds.

When a “mission” is defined, the anticipated targets are considered, and appropriate equipment, vehicles, and personnel are selected for the mission. For example, in a military mission, a sniper may be selected for the mission with appropriate rifle and long-range anti-personnel rounds, while his team may also include personnel trained to enter and clear buildings, who are equipped with shorter-barrel weapons and ammunition suitable for indoors use that does not penetrate walls to avoid danger to other team members in adjacent structural rooms. For other missions, anti-equipment ammunition and weapons may be employed, or anti-structural ammunition for breaching certain structural elements (e.g. doors, gates, etc.).

If the mission is a hunting excursion, the anticipated game animal may determine the type of weapon (rifle, shotgun, pistol, etc.) and ammunition (caliber or gauge) to be taken on the excursion.

So, a variety of anticipated targets drives the need to take a variety of specialized ammunition having specialized projectiles. And, since unexpected targets may be encountered or may present themselves during the mission, it is also wise to carry at least a small amount of ammunition for those potentialities as well.

SUMMARY OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

One or more embodiments are disclosed and illustrated for a projectile for acceleration and delivery to a target having a jacket having rear surface, a cylindrical side surface, and a tapered rupturable front surface with a cavity between the surfaces, a core disposed within the cavity, and a mantel packing the core within the cavity, wherein the core is comprised of a denser material than material comprising the jacket, the front surface ruptures upon impact to a target, and the core is ejected through the ruptured front surface to penetrate the target.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The description set forth herein is illustrated by the several drawings.

FIGS. 1a and 1b illustrate two modes of travel for a first embodiment according to the present invention of a projectile having a solid core packed by metal powder into a casing.

FIG. 2 depicts a typical cartridge for accelerating a projectile.

FIGS. 3a and 3b illustrate two modes of travel for a second embodiment according to the present invention of a projectile having a frangible core packed by metal powder into a casing.

FIG. 4 shows a cartridge similar to that of FIG. 2 with the embodiment of FIG. 1 a.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT(S) OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a dual-mode projectile design which can effectively engage two or more different target types. It is suitable for acceleration by a plurality of means, such as explosive chemicals (e.g., gun powder, liquids, solid explosives, plastic explosives, etc.), compressed gas, and magnetics.

By providing an effective round against two (or more) different target types, the burden on personnel and equipment to carry multiple types of ammunition for a particular mission profile may be significantly lessened. This provides a smaller footprint of the mission (e.g., smaller vehicles, fewer vehicles, less fuel, etc.) and/or a longer range of force projection due to the improved efficiency (e.g., vehicles travel further with less weight on the same amount of fuel, and personnel can walk further and travel faster carrying less weight).

The present invention encompasses two general variants, one including flechettes, and one without flechettes. In both variations, an outer case contains a core which is packed into the case by a powdered metal. The core may be of a solid type or may be frangible, such as breaking into flechettes. The case can be cast, stamped or milled from a suitable material such as copper, brass or steel.

A unique feature of the new bullet or projectile design is that the core, not the case, is the primary effective projectile, while the case and packing powdered metal are a vessel to deliver the core to its intended target. By way of comparison to known bullets, Instead of the entire bullet being penetrating projectile, or an AFram or Nosler™ partioned design, the new projectile configuration reduces the penetrating mass and entry surface cross-sectional area. This improves the penetrating capability of the core because it is more sleek and has less surface area for the target's mass to slow it. However, by accelerating the new bullet while the core is still contained in the larger-diameter casing, the round provides a rear surface area for engaging expanding gases which is larger than the surface area of the core on the entry surface. This unique combination allows for the acceleration of the round upon firing like a larger caliber round, but provides penetrating capabilities of a smaller round.

The core is the penetrating component of the round upon target impact, while the mantel (compressed metal powder) surrounds the core and packs it into the casing for rifling and ballistic dynamics of a solid bullet. The case or jacket encloses the core and mantel, and the case makes surface contact with the fire arms rifling and grooves. The case may be comprised of metal, lead, ceramic or an alloy, and core may comprised of a relatively higher density material such as tungsten or steel. This allows trajectory definition (e.g., aiming) and rifling within a barrel with less damage to the barrel, while providing substantially more penetrating capability by delivering a high-density component (e.g., the core) to the target.

Turning now to FIG. 2, a generalized arrangement (200) of components includes a projectile (202) and a means for accelerating the projectile (201), wherein the projectile is separable from the accelerating means. Those ordinarily skilled in the art will recognize this particular depiction as being similar to a rifle cartridge or some artillery ammunition, in which the means for acceleration (201) comprises a hollow cylinder filled with an explosive powder, and the projectile (202) is retained in a separable manner such as by crimping. In this particular depiction, the “shell casing” (201) also has a portion of reduced diameter (203, 204), a rim (205) for seating the cartridge into a chamber, and an ignitor “cap” (206) which, when struck, provides an initial spark into the hollow cylinder to ignite the explosive powder. The rapid expansion of the exploding powder its prevented from rupturing the shell casing (201) by the structure of the chamber, and thus the only path of expansion for the gases is towards the projectile (202). When the pressure of the gas reaches a threshold to overcome the retention (e.g., crimping), the projectile is forced away from the shell casing (203) and down a barrel. During travel down a barrel, the outer surface of the projectile (202) may be engaged by rifling grooves or slots, imparting a spin to the projectile rotating about an axis in alignment with the bore of the barrel. This spin tends to stabilize the flight of the projectile after it emerges from the barrel to travel towards the target.

While this depiction is provided for general information, it will be readily recognized that the acceleration means may be slightly or even significantly different for different weapons, such as revolver cartridges do not usually have a rim (205), rim-fire cartridges do not have a cap (206), and some means have no cartridge at all such as compressed gas and magnetic acceleration mechanisms. As such, the present disclosure is directed to an new projectile design which can be employed with a wide variety of acceleration means, including but not limited to the foregoing devices and mechanisms.

Referring to FIG. 1 a, a cross sectional view of one available embodiment (202 a) of a projectile in a first mode of travel according to the present invention is shown. The jacket (102) envelops a core (100) which is packed within the jacket by a powdered metal (101). Please note that the tip shown in this diagram is only one option according to the embodiment. In other optional embodiments, a frangible or pre-scored tip of the jacket may be provided, such as a polymer tip, as well as a hollow point to promote delivery of the core into the target upon impact, or even a “ball point” (e.g., pointed) tip may be provided. As such, this particular depiction is just one example embodiment of a useful tip design according to the inventions, and other tip shapes may be realized according to the present invention.

When the projectile (202 a) is in unitary flight prior to target impact, it has full momentum M_(full) in the direction of flight (from left to right in this diagram). The core may be comprised of relatively higher density material, such as tungsten, steel, depleted uranium, other suitable high density material and combinations of these materials. In this first mode of travel, the unitary projectile (202 a) presents a larger surface area for absorbing energy from the acceleration means, and allows for a larger casing with no (or a reduced) neck-down section of the shell casing.

Upon target impact, the projectile (202 a) of FIG. 1a the jacket (102) transitions to a second mode of travel, in which it ruptures at its tip upon contact with the surface (103) of the target as shown in FIG. 1 b. At this point, two components of the full momentum M_(full) drive forward the core, namely the momentum of the core M_(core) plus some of the momentum of the powder M_(powder). These momentum components continue to drive the core penetrating into the target, through its surface (103), because the diameter of the core d_(core) is less than the diameter of the unitary projectile d_(projectile). In this second mode, the higher density core with its smaller diameter performs more like a small caliber, high-speed round with greater penetration capability than a larger, slower caliber round.

In a second embodiment of a projectile (202 b) according to the invention, the core's effectiveness is enhanced by the addition of some frangible components, such as one or more flechettes (301) surrounding a solid core (300), as depicted in FIG. 3 a. In this embodiment, the unitary travel mode of FIG. 1 a is essentially the same, however upon impact, the secondary mode allows the flechettes (301) to travel in different paths of penetration from the core (300) as shown in FIG. 3 b. This embodiment improves the “take down” capability for certain target types, such as for hunting and anti-personnel mission profiles.

Turning to FIG. 4, a combined cartridge example (200) is shown in which the internal details of the first embodiment (200 a) of the projectile is shown for reference to the reader. As stated before, projectiles realized according to the present invention may be used with any suitable acceleration means, not just a firearm cartridge arrangement as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.

It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the disclosed embodiments do not define the limits of the invention, whereas the following claims define the spirit and scope of the present invention including variations and alternatives. Except where structurally necessary, “a”, “an” and “the” may refer to singular or plural.

CONCLUSION

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof, unless specifically stated otherwise.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment(s) was/were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

It will be readily recognized by those skilled in the art that the foregoing example embodiments do not define the extent or scope of the present invention, but instead are provided as illustrations of how to make and use at least one embodiment of the invention. The following claims define the extent and scope of at least one invention disclosed herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A projectile for acceleration and delivery to a target comprising: a jacket having rear surface, a cylindrical side surface, and a tapered rupturable front surface defining a cavity between the surfaces; a core disposed within the cavity; and a mantel packing the core within the cavity; wherein the core is comprised of a denser material than material comprising the jacket, the tapered front surface is formed to rupture on impact at a minimum momentum such that the core is ejected through the ruptured front surface to penetrate the target.
 2. The projectile as set forth in claim 1 wherein the core has a diameter smaller than a diameter of the cavity.
 3. The projectile as set forth in claim 1 wherein the jacket comprises a copper jacket.
 4. The projectile as set forth in claim 1 wherein the jacket comprises a brass jacket.
 5. The projectile as set forth in claim 1 wherein the jacket comprises a steel jacket.
 6. The projectile as set forth in claim 1 wherein the core comprises a tungsten core.
 7. The projectile as set forth in claim 1 wherein the core comprises a depleted uranium core.
 8. The projectile as set forth in claim 1 wherein the core comprises a front surface having a point.
 9. The projectile as set forth in claim 1 wherein core further comprises one or more frangible components which separate upon penetration to the target.
 10. The projectile as set forth in claim 9 wherein the frangible components comprise one or more fleschettes.
 11. A method of manufacturing a projectile for acceleration and delivery to a target comprising: forming a jacket having rear surface, a cylindrical side surface, and a tapered front surface defining a cavity between the surfaces; disposing a core within the cavity; and packing the core by a mantel within the cavity; wherein the core is comprised of a denser material than material comprising the jacket, the tapered front surface is formed to rupture on impact at a minimum momentum such that the core is ejected through the ruptured front surface to penetrate the target.
 12. The projectile as set forth in claim 11 wherein the core has a diameter smaller than a diameter of the cavity.
 13. The projectile as set forth in claim 11 wherein the jacket comprises a copper jacket.
 14. The projectile as set forth in claim 11 wherein the jacket comprises a brass jacket.
 15. The projectile as set forth in claim 11 wherein the jacket comprises a steel jacket.
 16. The projectile as set forth in claim 11 wherein the core comprises a tungsten core.
 17. The projectile as set forth in claim 11 wherein the core comprises a depleted uranium core.
 18. The projectile as set forth in claim 11 wherein the core comprises a front surface having a point.
 19. The projectile as set forth in claim 11 wherein core further comprises one or more frangible components which separate upon penetration to the target.
 20. The projectile as set forth in claim 19 wherein the frangible components comprise one or more fleschettes. 